Avatar's producer explains what he and his team will be doing while waiting for the sequel script. J.J. Abrams' Super 8 has some seriously mysterious filming reports. Shia LaBeouf gushes about Indy 5's coolness. Plus new Fringe clips. Spoiler life!

Avatar 2:

Producer Jon Landau jokingly promised the sequel will be shot "this century", then gave some details about what will likely happen first with the new movie. He explained that even though James Cameron is a ways away from writing the screenplay, they will begin creature and environment design as soon as he gives them some relatively basic notes. As he explains:

"We don't have to wait for a script for that. And there are also certain things we designed from the last movie that didn't make it in that I'm sure will make it in on the next movie."

Everyone ready to be unnecessarily confused? Great! Then we're ready to talk about a J.J. Abrams project. His tribute to Steven Spielberg's late 70s/early 80s scifi movies (Close Encounters and E.T., mostly) is reportedly filming in Weirton, West Virginia, where residents have received letters informing them the movie Darlings is filming there. However, that movie is thought to actually just be a smokescreen for Super 8.

This idea is maybe bolstered by the fact that an AP report on the filming says the film "revolves around a 14-year-old boy and is set in a steel town in 1979," which matches what's known about Super 8. Then there's the fact that the Weirton Daily Times reports on another film called Wickham that is also set in 1979 and revolves around "a train crash [that] forces the town to come together." They're looking to cast some 13-14 year olds as the leads and are looking for locals to do extras work as "middle school and high school aged people, police, soldier and EMT types as well as townspeople." And, for what it's worth, an executive at J.J. Abrams's Bad Robot production company is Athena Wickham.

So what does all this mean? Is Abrams getting so creative with the secrecy that his team is putting out multiple false titles for Super 8? Or is Weirton, West Virginia the new capital of the filmmaking universe? (Hey, if the town was good enough for The Deer Hunter, I guess.) [WV Gazette & Weirton Daily Times]

This seems like decent-ish confirmation that the movie is maybe probably happening. (Potentially.) Shia LaBeouf says he was recently called into Steven Spielberg's office to hear what the new movie is about:

"They're script writing right now. I got called into Steven's office and he pitched a little bit to me and it sounds crazy, it sounds really cool."

This would appear to mean they've made it past the crucial "come up with an idea George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Harrison Ford can all agree on" phase, which reportedly held up the last movie for nearly two decades. And we all know how well that eventually turned out... [Showbiz Spy]

Wolverine 2:

Twilight: Eclipse and 30 Days of Night director David Slade is reportedly the top choice to direct the sequel. Inside sources say it's down to either him or The Time Traveler's Wife director Robert Schwentke, and Hugh Jackman will be making the final decision. However, those sources are also saying that it will definitely be Slade, and Jackman's decision is just a formality. Grains of salt at the ready, of course... [Vulture Blog]

Fantastic Four Reborn:

According to an inside source, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Adrien Brody are Fox's top choices to play Reed Richards. The same source also notes that the film is actually not going to be called Fantastic Four Reborn, but I'm keeping it there for now because it sounds slightly classier than just calling it a reboot. [Screen Rant]

Another inside source reports Amber Heard is under consideration for the Invisible Woman, and relatively obscuring actor Kevin Pennington might be the choice for the Human Torch. All of these reports should be taken with a grain of salt for now, but it would seem this latest reboot is picking up some steam. [ComicBookMovie]

Transformers 3:

Reports are swirling that this last weekend really was the end of filming in Chicago, which may mean an end to all these set pics. (Well, unless their next location, Detroit, is just as open to photographers.) Anyway, here's the last Chicago batch, which show Shia LaBeouf and Josh Duhamel's stunt doubles flying through the air. [Pixel Rally via TFLAMB]

Breaking Dawn:

Twilight actress Nikki Reed says they haven't received the scripts yet. When asked about the notoriously graphic half-vampire birth scene from the book, Reed said she doesn't know yet how they're going to handle it, but did point out that the movies definitely won't be R-rated, so mostly likely "they're going to have to just keep it tame." [CinemaBlend]

Infected:

This new zombie movie starring Michael Madsen in which those bitten by zombies become vicious killers who still retain their mind on the inside but are unable to control themselves - which seems like an interesting enough twist on the zombie genre - has reportedly added some new cast members. William Forsythe, Christy Carlson Romano, and Tom DeNucci have all reportedly signed on. [Variety]

Fringe:

Here's a new promo that shows some clips from the season premiere, "Olivia": [Fringe Television]

Joshua Jackson shared these thoughts on Peter while being interviewed on set:

"Peter's loyalties are not very clear and he was not in a good place with all of the rest of the people on the Fringe team. He came back very quickly and I think he's still not quite sure what his place is on this side or what his place might be on that side. I think he's in a more ambiguous place than he has been at any time during the show."

Tia Texada, best known for playing Sergeant Maritza Cruz on Third Watch, will reportedly play Hortencia, the wife of Armand's Assante Premier Alejandro Goya. She will be keeping some sort of secret when Chuck and friends come to visit the Premier's island nation of Costa Gravas. [TV Guide]

The executive producer tweeted this photo of a giant statue of Captain Awesome, saying you'll just have to watch season four for it to make sense. [ChuckTV]

Doctor Who:

In case you missed it the other day, here's a shot of Matt Smith from the filming of the Christmas special: [Blogtor Who]

Here's the first promo for this week's episode, "The Ex Files." The final moment is particularly awesome: [Syfy] Click to view

V:

Here are some of the first images from the set of season two. These are from the season premiere, "Red Rain," and it does look as though the red skies are starting to come down to Earth. [Pink is the New Blog]

Smallville:

A Luthor is returning to Smallville - just maybe not the one people were hoping for. John Glover is reportedly going to reprise his role as Lionel Luthor in at least two episodes during the tenth season. His episodes should air in November. And yes, this will involve him coming back from the dead somehow. Since this is the world of comics we're talking about, that shouldn't be difficult. [The Ausiello Files]

Here are a few set photos from the set of "Homecoming", most of which are variations on stuff we've seen before: [SpoilerTV]